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Monday, 14 October 2013

118) A silver coin on General Yuan Shih-Kai or Shikai (also called the “Fat Man” Chinese dollar or the “Big Head” Dollar) first President of the New Republic in 1911:

118)
A silver coin on General Yuan Shih-Kai or Shikai (also called the “Fat Man” Chinese dollar or the “Big Head” Dollar) first President of the New Republic in
1911:

Yuan
Shih-Kai: A brief profile of his life,
achievements and legacy:

Yuan Shih-Kai
(16.09.1859-06.06.1916) belonged to an influential Yuan family who lived in the
fortified village of Yuanzhaicun where the Yuan clan resided.

In 1880, after
purchasing a minor official title (which was the common method of official
promotion in the later Qing rule), he commenced military service in the Qing
Army.

At this time, Japan, Korea and China were
involved in a game of one-upmanship and increasing their trading, military and
political influence in one another’s territories.

Meanwhile, there was an
internal power struggle in the Joseon dynasty of Korea and Chinese troops moved
in to impose Chinese Suzerainty over Korea.

In 1882, after
China executed a one-sided Treaty of Jemulpo with Korea, which gave the
Japanese powers to increase their influence in Korea, including stationing
their troops to protect Japanese business interests, Chinese troops were
withdrawn from Korea. Nevertheless, Yuan Shih-Kai was tasked by the Koreans
with training 500 Korean troops in the art of modern warfare.

In 1885, Yuan was
appointed as the Imperial Resident of Seoul. Although Yuan Shih-Kai’s position,
in principle, was that of an ambassador, owing to his political acumen and in
his capacity as the Chief Representative of the Qing Emperor in Korea, he
became the Supreme Adviser on all Korean Government policy matters. Matters
came to a boil once again when Yuan Shih-Kai got information that the Koreans
were keen on seeking Russian protection and distance themselves from the Qing
imposition.

Another conflict developed in Korea, with the
Chinese troops battling it out with the Japanese who reinforced their troops
with a view to protect their business interests in what is known as the First
Sino-Japanese War in 1894. Yuan was recalled to China before the
outbreak of this War in which the Chinese suffered a major defeat, hence his
image as a capable General and a Public Administrator did not suffer any damage
in the process.

In 1895, Yuan was
appointed as the Commander of the First New Army of China and tasked with
modernising the Army. He gained the loyalty of 5 of China’s 7 Divisional
commanders and almost the entire set of senior military officers.

By 1898, a power
tussle developed in the Qing Court between the Guangxu Emperor and the Empress
Dowager Cixi and there was talk of the modernised Army taking over the reins of
the country. In coordination with Manchu General Ronglu, on 21.09.1898,
the Chinese Emperor was kept under house arrest in a lake palace.

By June 1902, Yuan who
had allied himself with the Empress Dowager in the power struggle in the Qing
Court was appointed the Governor of Shandong. As Governor of Shandong, he
witnessed the “Boxer Rebellion” in his Province, which he suppressed brutally
by aiding the foreign “Eight-Nation alliance” and participating in the massacre
of thousands of people by them in Zhili, after the Alliance had captured
Beijing, much against the Empress Dowager’s and people’s wishes.

Yuan was promoted to the
post of Viceroy of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang comprising the modern Regions
of Liaoning, Hebei and Shandong.

He utilised this phase,
for raising the most powerful Army in all of China along with a 1000 man strong
police force to keep order in Tianjin, the first of its kind in Chinese
history.

He was instrumental in
playing a leading role in late-Qing political reforms, including creation of a
Ministry of Education and Ministry of Police. He also, worked for ethnic
equality between the Manchus and the Han Chinese.

In November 1908,
both the Empress Dowager and the Guangxu Emperor died. As contained in the will
of the Emperor, Yuan was to be taken prisoner and executed.

In January 1909,
Yuan was relieved from all his positions and duties by the Regent Prince Chun
who was keen on restoring the Qing Power to its original glory.

Although he was in exile
for about 2 years Yuan still maintained the loyalty of the Beiyang Army
that he had raised.

During the Wuchang
uprising on 10.10.1911, Yuan was reinstated as Viceroy of Huguang and later
became Prime Minister in the Qing Court, primarily on account of his influence
with the Beiyang Army which the Qing Court felt would help quell the uprising.
One of the grounds set by him for his return was that the Prince Regent should
abstain from politics and he himself set up a Cabinet of his trusted
confidants.

He was also given the
title of “Marquis of the First Rank” by the present Empress Dowager Longyu, an
honour only awarded once before to a General who had suppressed the Taiping
Rebellion in the 19th century.

To maintain his usefulness
in the Qing court, Yuan adopted a path of reconciliation and negotiated with
the Revolutionaries, instead of suppressing them outright. Meanwhile, the Revolutionaries
had elected Sun Yat-Sen as their Provisional President of the Republic of
China.

After some deft political
manoeuvring Yuan got himself nominated for the
position of President of the Republic of China by the Nanjing Provincial
Senate and was sworn in as President on 10.03.1912, replacing Sun Yat-Sen, who was the people’s/Revolutionaries’
popular choice. Not only did Yuan negotiate for himself to be elevated to the position
of President, he also, contrived to secure the abdication of the Child Emperor
Puyi or “Xuantong Emperor”.

Left with no alternative, the
Emperor abdicated on 12.02.1912 and on 14.02.1912.

In February 1913, democratic
elections were held and the Chinese National Party or “Kuomintang” (KMT)
representing the Revolutionaries, won a majority. Song Jiaoren of the KMT who
was expected to take over as Prime Minister was assassinated by a gunman at
Shanghai Railway station on 20.03.1913. Yuan was suspected to be behind the
attack but his complicity was never established as most of the investigators in
the case were also assassinated or disappeared without a trace.

As matters between the KMT
and Yuan came to a head, each tried to curtail the administrative powers of the
other. Ultimately, Yuan resorted to a crackdown on the KMT and broke their
backbone by bribing some KMT members and later dissolving the National and
Provincial Assemblies. He replaced the House of Representatives and Senate with
a “Council of State” manned by his trusted men. He even had himself elected
President for a five-year term.

Meanwhile, Sun Yat-sen fled to Japan and
called for a Second Revolution, this time against Yuan Shih-Kai. The KMT was
outlawed and the Second Revolution ended in failure. With the army firmly
backing him, Yuan’s position was firmly entrenched.

In January 1914,
the Parliament was dissolved and Yuan set up and was advised by a Cabinet of 66
members. He assumed unbridled powers while putting in place several reforms,
some of them extremely unpopular.

Immediately after assuming
the President’s position, Yuan had silver dollars minted with his portrait on
the obverse. These coins were the first standard dollar issues and became
immensely popular, so much so that restrikes continued till the 1950s. These dollars
were also extensively forged.

In January 1915,
Japan negotiated a 21-point demand to protect their business and territorial
interests, almost all of which were conceded by Yuan leading to a major decline
in his popularity. There was talk about reviving the monarchy as Yuan had
become increasingly dictatorial.

Not to be outdone, on 20.11.1915,
Yuan called for a specially convened “Representative Assembly” and had himself
voted unanimously as the “Emperor of the Chinese Empire” a position which he
assumed on 12.12.1915.

On 01.01.1916, the
new Empire of China was to begin, when Yuan intended to go through a
coronation/ascension ceremony.

Yuan’s popularity declined
further with this move and his supporters began to desert him. His sons fought
over who would be the “Crown Prince”. Several factions were created and Sun
Yat-sen gained favour with several Revolutionaries who planned to overthrow
Yuan.

Faced with insurmountable
opposition to his claiming the monarchy Yuan tried a last minute attempt by delaying
the ascension ceremony to appease his detractors, but several provinces were
now not supporting him.

By 25.12.1915,
Yunnan’s military Governor declared the “National Protection War” against Yuan.
The Governors of Guizhou and Guangxi were the next to declare their
independence in January and March 1916 and join the National Protection
War. Thereafter, several more Provinces joined the rebellion against him.

Yuan was left with no
alternative but to formally give up the Emperor’s position on 22.03.1916.

Several other detractors
called for Yuan’s resignation from all posts held by him.

By May 1916, the
whole of China was up in Arms against him and he died a broken man on 05.06.1916
at the age of 56.

The Empire and the Chinese
Military which he had so painstakingly raised broke into factions under several
warlords.

He was criticised for weakening
China’s position in the International arena and not doing anything culturally
or for the welfare of the people.

Nevertheless, the silver
coins issued during his time and afterwards are, perhaps, his most lasting
legacy today.

The
Yuan-Shih Kai silver dollar or the “Fatman” or “Big-Head” silver dollar:
popularity, minting and circulation of the coin:

1)Popularity: The
Yuan Shih-Kai dollar or the “Fatman dollar” or “Big Head” is one of the most
common Chinese silver dollars. It is one of the longest lived series with its
production beginning in 1914 and was issued continuously till at least 1921.

One estimate put the total minting of the Central and Provincial Mints of the
Yuan Shih-Kai dollars at about 185 million by 1917. A survey by the
Shanghai Bank estimated that of the 960 million silver dollars in circulation
in China in 1924 about 750 million were those of Yuan Shih-Kai. Such was
the popularity and universal acceptance of this coin in China.

Still
later, Zhang Zuo Lin, the ruler of Manchuria from 1916 – 1928, who was waging
war to capture Beijing, had the Yuan Shih-Kai silver dollars restruck in 1921
and then again, in 1926, with a view to stabilising the currency during
a period of strife for his territories, based on the coin’s popularity with the
people.

The
Yuan Shih-Kai dollars were restruck again in the 1930s based on the
coin’s popularity and universal acceptability in China.

Then
again, when Shenyang was captured by the People’s Liberation Army in 1948,
the North – Eastern Communist Bank of China took control of the Shenyang mint
and set up the North-Eastern Provincial Bank. The mint again started minting
silver dollars again in 1949 (to start rebuilding the Chinese economy)
using the dies of the original 1914 Yuan Shih-Kai silver dollars. These coins
have a slight correction in one character and the epaulette on the shoulder of
Yuan Shih-Kai was more sharply struck revealing all the four stars very
clearly. These coins were circulated in great numbers well into the 1950s.

2)Minting: Several
Yuan Shih-Kai dollars were minted in the Central Mint at Tianjin and Provincial
Mints. To have an assessment of the popularity and
frequency of Yuan Shih-Kai dollars coming into the Chinese economy, in 1914, in
the first year of production itself, the Central Mint alone was producing about
300000 coins every day.

The
Provincial mints were issued official dies from the Central Government and
every effort was made to have new coins minted as per specifications.

Several Provincial mints took up minting as
per Government specified standards producing several thousands more coins. This
helped the new coinage to successfully replace the “dragon dollars” and foreign
“Trade dollars” which were in circulation around this time. With passage of
time, several different die varieties of the original 1914 dollar were minted
and circulated.

Different
mints exhibited different characteristics on the coins issued by them. Two of the variations – the “O” mint mark and
the “triangular yuan” are the most popular ones.

The
“O” mint mark coins were minted in Shenyang in 1951 under the supervision of
the People’s Bank of China for circulation in the Southern Provinces and the
ethnic minorities as well as in those Regions/Provinces, where people were not
confident about the new Renminbi currency.

The
Triangular Yuan coins were minted in 1949 to pay the wages of workers employed
in making the roads in Tibet.

The
Yuan Shih-Kai dollar was minted with such frequency during the period of its
issue that several dies both at the Central and Provincial mints were worn out
and had to be re-engraved. This resulted in around 200 types of die varieties
at the time when the Yuan Shih Kai coin was being minted, leading to a lot of
confusion in the coins minted as well as making it difficult for collectors to
identify and collect all the varieties of Yuan Shih-Kai silver coins issued.

Presently, about 50 die varieties are positively identified, with several
varieties still emerging from obscurity.

3)Circulation: At the point of its introduction into the Chinese
economy, the most widely circulated silver coin was the Mexican dollars
(pesos). It is estimated that more than 50 million Mexican silver dollars
were taken out of circulation and about 30 million of these pieces were
shipped/exported out of China and over 20 million pieces were melted for
recoining as the Yuan Shih Kai silver pieces.

By 1924, of all the silver
dollar coins in circulation in China, almost 80% were Yuan Shih-Kai dollars.

Specifications
and identification of the Yuan Shih-Kai silver dollar:

The undernoted is a
sequence of the first eleven Chinese
numerals:

The year is also included
in the list of Chinese numerals above. (I could'nt help but notice that the numerals 7, 8, 9, 0 and 10 if viewed as English alphabets spell "tarot").

The above symbol/character
is interpreted as “made between___”.

Understanding
the date of issue on a Yuan Shih-Kai coin would be something
as follows, keeping in mind the above-mentioned ten numerals/year symbols/characters:

A
very interesting point to remember is that, although Yuan Shih-Kai coins were
struck continuously from 1914 to 1921 and on several random dates during
later years, only four dates appear on the coins: the 3rd year, 8th
year, 9th year and 10th year of the Republic of China.

Also,
all the coins made in the third year (1914) are easily recognised as there are
only six characters above the portrait of Yuan Shih-Kai. In all the remaining
years, there are seven characters, due to inclusion of a seventh character at
the beginning which stands for “Made during____”.

The
second character/symbol (in the coins having six characters on the upper
periphery) and the third character (in the coins having seven characters) indicates
the year of the Republic of China when this coin was minted.

For example, three stacked lines or horizontal
bars (standing for the number 3) indicate that these coins were issued in 1914,
which is the third year of the Republic of China. It is also the first year when
the Yuan Shih-Kai silver coins were issued for the first time.

The first letter in the above coin in my collection on the obverse face is the character that is interpreted as "Made between____", the second character stands for "year" and the
third letter in the specimen shown above (which looks like
“+”, stands for the Chinese numeral 10) indicates that this coin was issued in 1921,
or the tenth (10th) year of the Republic of China, with 1914 being the First Year of the Republic of China.

The
diameter of this coin is 38 mm. These are crown sized coins, they weigh 26.4
gms, have a fineness of 0.8900 silver or 0.75555 of an ounce of silver. The edge on both faces is engrailed with Circles.

The
version of the 1921 coin shown above, issued with seven characters is also
called “Lien-K’ou-Tsao” which in Chinese means “the mouth part”.

Counterfeit
or Genuine?

Thus, going by the above
discussion:

1)One
has to guard against counterfeits and fantasy pieces mass produced in countries
in Asia, Middle East and Eastern Europe.

2)Any
combination of years of issue characters mentioned on the coins, not corresponding to the 3rd,
8th, 9th and 10th years of the Republic of
China suggest counterfeit coins. Some forgers have included floral patterns,
relying on the premise that the potential buyer does not understand Chinese
lettering/numerals.

3)One
test for a counterfeit coin is to put pass a magnet over the coin. If the coin is
magnetic, then the coin is a fake.
Most counterfeit coins weigh less than the weight of a genuine coin, are
greyish in colour and have a poor strikes (to make them appear genuine and
somewhat worn out) with age/use or may even present a cleaned or polished
appearance, or may have a dull or grainy surface or have engraving errors.

4)Newer
coins with more accurate details have been perfected by counterfeiters,
nevertheless, the weight of the coin is still one of the best methods for
determining the genuineness of a Yuan Shih Kai coin.

About Me

I am Rajeev Prasad, a retired State Bank of India officer who had been collecting coins in a shoe box without having a serious interest. Only after quitting my job I got the time to take serious interest in developing my coin collection into a hobby. A pity, because I would have had more opportunity to lay my hands on more 'exclusive coins' while in the Bank. Anyway, as they say,better late than never. If you have any views to share with me regarding this blog , please contact me on my email rajeevprasad1208@gmail.com. I also have a twitter account @prasad_rajeev.
I had an opportunity to participate in a Documentary on the life and times of the 25 paise coin titled “Chal Basi Chavanni” (The four anna/twenty five paise coin passes away), aired by STAR NEWS on 29th and 30th June 2011. The programme helped in making many persons hold back onto their “chavannis”, the little round beauties, instead of returning them to Banks .